Опера «Le Grand Macabre» Дьердя Лигети

Opera by György Ligeti

Le Grand Macabre (completed 1977, revised 1996) is the third and only major stage work by Hungarian composer György Ligeti, following his Absurdist sung "mimodramas" Aventures (compl. 1962) and Nouvelles aventures (1965). The "anti anti opera" has two acts and lasts about 100 minutes. Its libretto, based on Michel de Ghelderode's 1934 play La balade du Grand Macabre, was written by Ligeti himself in collaboration with sv, director of the Stockholm Puppet Theatre. The language was German, the title Der grosse Makaber. But for the first production, in 1978, it was translated into Swedish by Meschke under the French title by which it has been known ever since, and under which it was published. Besides these two languages, Le Grand Macabre has been performed in English, French, Italian, Hungarian and Danish, with only a few notes needing to be changed in order to adjust. The piece contains a dual role for a coloratura soprano that is considered exceptionally difficult; in its premiere the roles were sung by different singers.

Le Grand Macabre was premiered in Stockholm on 12 April 1978. At least 30 productions have followed. For one in Paris in February 1997 (under the auspices of that summer's Salzburg Festival), Ligeti the previous year prepared a revision, making cuts to Scenes 2 and 4, setting some of the originally spoken passages to music and removing others altogether. (As it turned out, the composer was annoyed by the Paris staging, by Peter Sellars, and expressed his displeasure publicly. Sellars, he said, had gone against his desire for ambiguity by explicitly depicting an Apocalypse set in the framework of the Chernobyl Disaster.) This 1996 revised score was published and has become standard. Conductors who have championed Le Grand Macabre include Elgar Howarth, Esa Pekka Salonen, Michael Boder, Alan Gilbert, Sir Simon Rattle, Thomas Guggeis, who led a new staging by Vasily Barkhatov in November 2023 at Oper Frankfurt, and Pablo Heras Casado, who conducted a different new production a week later at the Vienna State Opera.

+RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 12 April 1978Conductor: Elgar HowarthChef der Gepopo (Chief of the Gepopo, the political police)high coloratura sopranoBritt Marie AruhnClitoria (Amanda in the revision), loversopranoElisabeth SöderströmSpermando (Amando in the revision), lovermezzo sopranoKerstin MeyerMescalina, wife to Astradamors (and sadist)mezzo sopranoBarbro EricsonFürst Go Go (Prince Go Go)countertenor (or boy treble)Gunilla SlättegårdPiet vom Fass (Piet the Pot)tenorSven Erik VikströmNekrotzar (title role)baritoneErik SaedénAstradamors, astronomer (and masochist)bassArne Tyrénsupporting roles:Venuscoloratura sopranoMonika Lavén/Kerstin Wiberg (voice)Ruffiak, ruffian No. 1bassRagne WahlrothSchobiak, ruffian No. 2baritoneHans Olof SöderbergSchabernak, ruffian No. 3bassLennart StregårdWhite party ministerspoken roleDmitry Cheremeteff/Sven Erik Vikström (voice)Black party ministerspoken roleNils Johansson/Arne Tyrén (voice)Chorus: people of Breughelland; spirits; echo of Venus
The roles of Venus and Chef der Gepopo are occasionally sung by the same coloratura, a dual role that is considered exceptionally difficult. Opera critic Joshua Kosman called it "fiercely demanding".

Le Grand Macabre falls at a point when Ligeti's style was undergoing a significant change—apparently effecting a complete break with his approach in the 1960s. From here onward, Ligeti adopts a more eclectic manner, re examining tonality and modality (in his own words, "non atonal" music). In the opera, however, he does not forge a new musical language. The music instead is driven by quotation and pastiche, plundering past styles through allusions to Claudio Monteverdi, Gioachino Rossini, and Giuseppe Verdi.

Three arias from the opera were prepared in 1991 for concert performances under the title Mysteries of the Macabre. Versions exist for soprano or for trumpet, accompanied by orchestra, reduced instrumental ensemble, or piano.